In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man.” Who is “us”?

This is a very good question, for the word “us” is a personal pronoun that implies that there is more than one person in the Godhead. We also have the word “our” in this verse, for it reads, “Then God said, ‘Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness’” (NKJV). The word “God” in this verse teaches us the same truth, for it is the Hebrew word ELOHIM, which is a PLURAL noun. This word is used by Moses more than 500 times in the first five books of the Bible! One simply can’t escape the fact that though there is only one God, He is made up of more than one Person. We can now turn to verses in both the Old and New Testaments to see that in fact God is a “trinity,” which means that “God is one God who at the same time subsists in three Persons.” Those three Persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

One Old Testament verse that teaches us this is Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” We know that the speaker in this verse is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for He applied this verse to Himself in Luke 4:14-20. So, Isaiah was inspired to write of the Spirit, the Lord GOD (the Father), and the Son.

In the New Testament we have MANY references to the Holy Trinity. One of my favorites is Matthew 3:16-17: “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon His. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’.” Here we see “the Son” being anointed by “the Spirit” and “the Father” proclaiming His delight in His beloved Son. Perhaps the clearest testimony for the Holy Trinity is found in Matthew 28:19 which reads, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” When one becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ they are publicly identifying themselves with the Triune God. It is amazing that the word “name” is singular, yet connected with that “name” is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is the same truth that we saw in word ELOHIM, for though that “name” refers to “God,” yet it is actually a “plural noun” that suggests the Holy Trinity.

Now I’d like to give you an assignment. Read the following verses so you can see from Scripture that each Person is co-equal and has the attributes of Deity: